Commercial and music video director Shane Drake has signed with Envision Media Arts (EMA) on the heels of his earning the Video of the Year honor from the Academy of Country Music (ACM) for a Tim McGraw clip, “Highway Don’t Care,” which also featured Taylor Swift and Keith Urban. Drake had previously been repped by production house Wild Plum.
Spanning the genres of pop, rock, rap and country, Drake has directed videos for artists including Timbaland, Paramore, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Fall Out Boy, Flo Rida, Will.i.am, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Daughtry. Drake has also helped shape the original visual styles for new bands that have gone onto see great success, the most notable of these acts being Panic! At The Disco. Since the band’s inception, the director’s work with them has earned several VMA nominations and won “Video of the Year” for “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.” Drake went on to win an ACM “Video of the Year” Award for his groundbreaking video for country artist Little Big Town for their track “Tornado.”
Drake has also garnered recognition for his commercial and branded work. He directed the entire Ford “on air” music video/spots that aired for four seasons on “American Idol,” and during the seasons Drake participated, Ford boasted its largest numbers since the show’s inception. This, in turn, led the agency to hire Drake to direct a Lincoln commercial for the Grammy Awards. Since then, Drake has directed many more commercials, and a short based on the graphic novel “The Dead & The Dying.”
Film, TV and commercial production company EMA, which is based on the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood, was founded by president and CEO Lee Nelson in 2002. Andrew Halpern is EMA’s executive producer/president of commercial production.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More